Cancellation terms for a UK holiday let: the 14-day myth, deposits, and what you can keep

Elena Sitki · operations at GreenSLO and public relations for ReceptionGO
Published 4 November 2026 · 5 min read

General information, not legal or tax advice. Check your own case with your local council, HMRC or the relevant revenue authority, or an accountant.

A guest who books a holiday let for specific dates does not get the 14-day cooling-off right. You can set a cancellation charge. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 it has to reflect the loss you are likely to suffer, not a flat forfeiture of everything, and the amount has to be shown before they pay.

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Guests arrive believing the 14-day online-shopping right applies to a cottage, because that is the right they use everywhere else. For a stay on specific dates, it does not. That is the easy half of the law. The harder half is that a host who celebrates by writing “non-refundable, no exceptions, 100%” has often written a term a court will not enforce.

No 14-day right, and what you still have to say

Regulation 28 of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 removes the cooling-off right for accommodation on a specific date or for a specific period. A Friday-to-Friday booking is that contract. You should say so, in plain words, before they pay. Silence plus a guest who assumes they can cancel is how the first argument starts, even though the law is on your side.

The information duties have not been cancelled with the cooling-off right. They need the total price, the main characteristics of the stay, your trading name, and the cancellation charge. Those belong on the booking page. A link to a PDF is a weak place to hide a 100% charge.

A scale you can explain

When they cancel	A scale that tracks the loss	Why
More than 60 days ahead	Lose the deposit, or a small admin fee	You can usually re-let, especially outside peak weeks
14 to 60 days	A larger share, less whatever you re-let for	The dates may sell, perhaps at a lower rate
Under 14 days, or no-show	Most or all of the price, minus anything you manage to re-let	A peak week cancelled on Monday often stays empty

Copy the idea, not necessarily the days. A cottage in a school-holiday week is not the same risk as a Tuesday in November. Write the scale you would be willing to read out loud to a guest. If you would be embarrassed, it is probably unfair, and section 62 of the Consumer Rights Act is the reason it may not bind them.

A non-refundable deposit is a cancellation charge. It has to appear in the price conversation before payment, which is also the drip-pricing rule. It is not a damage deposit. Damage is a different sum, held on different terms, covered in the deposit guide.

Platforms and your own page

Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo each make you pick from their cancellation options, and the guest sees theirs, not your PDF. Pick the option that matches the loss you actually take. A “flexible” setting fills the calendar and refunds guests who cancel into a week you cannot refill. A “strict” setting deters some bookings and protects July.

On your own page you can use the scale above. Keep it identical in spirit to the platform you use most, or guests who compare the two will book the looser one and you will not have chosen it. The wording in the checkout message should repeat the deadline, not introduce a new one.

From our own practiceThe cancellations that turn bitter are the ones where the guest heard “fully refundable” from a listing title and “non-refundable” from the terms. One sentence, in the confirmation, with the date the scale changes, prevents that. It is also the sentence you forward back to them if they write in August about a booking they cancelled in May.

Frequently asked questions

Can a guest cancel a cottage within 14 days just because they booked online?

Not where the contract is for accommodation on specific dates. Regulation 28 of the 2013 Regulations excludes the cooling-off right for accommodation, transport, vehicle hire and catering supplied on a specified date or period. A “flexible” week with no dates would not get that exclusion. Most holiday lets have dates, so the right does not arise. You still have to have told them the main characteristics, the total price and your identity before they booked.

Can I keep 100% whenever they cancel?

A term that always keeps the full price, including when they cancel six months ahead and you re-let the week, is at real risk of being unfair under section 62 of the Consumer Rights Act. An unfair term is not binding. A scale that shrinks as the date approaches, and that gives credit if you re-let, is the pattern the CMA’s unfair-terms guidance points businesses toward.

What if I re-let the dates?

You should not be paid twice for the same week. If a cancellation term lets you keep the first guest’s money and take a second guest’s money in full, expect a challenge. Deduct what you still lost: a lower price on the re-let, a card fee you cannot recover, nights that stayed empty.

Do Airbnb’s cancellation options replace my own terms?

For an Airbnb booking, Airbnb’s policy for that listing is the contract the guest sees. Choose it deliberately. Your own terms govern a direct booking. They do not override a platform booking, and the platform’s terms do not automatically apply to your website.

The guest is ill. Do I have to refund?

Your published scale is the starting point, and a harsh result for a guest who cancelled the day before, with no re-let, can still be within a fair term. Travel insurance is what covers their illness; you are not their insurer. A goodwill refund is a choice. It becomes a problem only if you refund some guests and point at the terms for others in the same position.

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Sources

Rules last checked on 22 October 2026.